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Mayonnaise Dressing I

A homemade mayonnaise dressing made with mustard, salt, sugar, cayenne, egg yolks, lemon juice, vinegar, and olive oil.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Mayonnaise Dressing I

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Mix dry ingredients, add egg yolks, and when well mixed add one-half teaspoon of vinegar.

  2. Add oil gradually, at first drop by drop, and stir constantly.

Thicken and adjust

  1. As mixture thickens, thin with vinegar or lemon juice.

  2. Add oil, and vinegar or lemon juice alternately, until all is used, stirring or beating constantly.

  3. Mayonnaise should be stiff enough to hold its shape.

Rescue and serve

  1. If oil is added too rapidly, dressing will have a curdled appearance.

  2. A smooth consistency may be restored by taking yolk of another egg and adding curdled mixture slowly to it.

  3. It soon liquefies when added to meat or vegetables; therefore it should be added just before serving time.

Prepare tools and conditions

  1. It is desirable to have bowl containing mixture placed in a larger bowl of crushed ice, to which a small quantity of water has been added.

  2. Olive oil for making Mayonnaise should always be thoroughly chilled.

  3. A silver fork, wire whisk, small wooden spoon, or Dover Egg-beater may be used as preferred.

  4. If one has a Keystone Egg-beater, dressing may be made very quickly by its use.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

270Calories
7 gProtein
19 gFat
18 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Fannie Merritt Farmer. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Lemon + olivetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,297 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  5. Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,816 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Emulsifiers that hold the oil and vinegar together as a thick, stable sauce.
Olive oil
Supplies the fat that forms the body and rich texture of the dressing.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens flavor and helps thin the mixture as it thickens.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens flavor and helps thin the mixture as it thickens.
Mustard
Helps stabilize the emulsion and adds sharpness to the sauce.

The step that matters

Adding the oil. Oil must be added slowly while stirring constantly, because the yolk lecithin can only emulsify a limited amount at a time. Adding oil too fast breaks the emulsion, causing a curdled dressing.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, sugar, egg, vinegar, olive):

  1. Lemonthe original
  2. Avocadofits about as well
  3. Cherryfits about as well
  4. Figfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, sugar, egg, vinegar, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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